Take My Breath Away
by purdyflower03
Summary: *NEW! Chapter 6* What happens when Chloe leaves town for 2 weeks? Brady finds out a lot about a certain person from his childhood. Some good. Some bad. But mostly he discovers what he wants in his life. He learns that it might not be Chloe. Brimi!
1. Default Chapter

"Dammit, where the hell could she be at?!" Brady exclaimed as he slammed the phone down on its receiver. He had tried calling Chloe's house for the past 4 hours, but no one was picking up. Her cell phone seemed to have been turned off as well. 

"Whoa, there, Iron Man, what'd the phone ever do to you?" A voice asked as the person walked behind the sofa where Brady was sitting. He lowered himself down to where he was laying face down on the sofa. 

"I'm not in the mood for your wise ass comments at the moment." His words muffled by the cushion.

"Well, atleast you finally admit that I'm wise." The voice replied as it disappeared into the kitchen. He reached over and grabbed the phone once again, deciding to just leave a message on Chloe's voicemail when it rang in his hand. He hurriedly pressed 'Talk' and flipped over on the sofa.

"Hello?"

"Brady? Hey, it's me. What's up, I just got home and saw that you've called about 30 times, what's wrong?" Chloe asked as he could hear her unzip something.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just worried when you wouldn't answer either phone. I was just going to see if we were still on for tonight?" He asked, thinking about the tickets that were in his room. Tickets to see a traveling actor's company's rendition of Les Miserables. It was a surprise gift to Chloe. 

"Oh man, we had a date tonight, didn't we? Brady..I'm sorry, I can't." 

"Why? I reminded you 2 days ago about it."

"I know, I know. It's just that Craig and Nancy called and they're staying an extra 2 weeks in New York and they wanted me to fly out and meet them. Kinda like a family vacation, and I couldn't say no. They even got tickets to some Broadway shows, and they've already booked a flight for me. I have to go." Chloe said, as he could hear her packing for the trip. 

"I had this date planned for a month, though! Couldn't you have given me a little bit more notice or something? Why couldn't you say no?"

"Brady, come on, we can have the date when I get back. It's just 2 weeks and then I'll be back here, back home to you. I promise. Please don't be mad before I leave." Chloe sighed, hoping he'd be alright with her leaving on such short notice. She was really looking forward to it. 

"I'm not mad, just…never mind. Go. Have a great time, and you can call me and tell me about all the fun you're having while we poor souls are stuck back here in Salem." He replied, putting on a good front. He really was disappointed. He wanted to surprise Chloe with the play and then a candlelit dinner filled with her favorite foods. That idea was shot to shit. 

"Oh, thank you, Brady, you know I will! I'll take pictures and bring you back a souvenir. God, I gotta start packing fast, I'll talk to you soon Brady, *muah*"

"Hey, you need a ri-" His question was met with a dial tone. Guess she didn't need a ride to the airport. He turned the phone off and dropped it on the floor. He laid there, right arm resting over his face, left arm dangling off the couch. Suddenly there was this screeching music coming from the kitchen. He jumped up, ran in the kitchen to be met with the image of a girl dancing around the island in the middle of the floor, holding a bag of carrots in one hand and a bowl in the other. Her socked feet slid across the tile floor as her light brown hair flung wildly around her face. 

"What the *hell* are you listening to?" Brady bellowed, reaching over to the CD player, turning it down. His voice scared her as she dropped the carrots and whipped around. 

"God, Brady, I'd like to keep this heart until I'm about 90. I don't think it's supposed to skip beats like you just made it do." She said, patting her chest and trying to catch her breath. 

"Aww, did I scare da po' baby?" Brady asked, fake sniffling.   
"Hell, with your face, you scare puppies." She said, picking up her carrots and turning to get a knife out of the drawer. 

"Well, with your mo-ya know what? I'm not going to do this. I feel a migraine coming on, and I just wanted to let you know that your music wasn't making it slow down. So if you wouldn't mind." He asked, going over to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of Gatorade and walking back out into the living room. He fell back onto the sofa, closed his eyes, and tried to get the image of Chloe leaving on a jet plane out of his mind. God, he hated that song. 

Brady had been lightly dozing when in his consciousness, he felt someone staring at him. He opened his eyes to see her, holding out her hand toward him. She was leaning over the back of the couch, peering down at him. 

"Can I help you?" He asked warily. You never could tell with her.

"Here." She said, picking up his hand, opening his palm, and dropping something into it. She smiled at him before taking back off upstairs. He opened his palm and saw 3 Advil tablets. He chuckled.

"Why, Mimi Lockhart, who knew you could be nice to me?"

"Belle, sweetie, it'll be okay. He'll call, I know he will. You had a little fight. Every couple does. It's normal. I'd be worried if you *didn't* fight." Mimi said, rubbing her best friend's back, trying to comfort her hurting heart. 

"But Meems, I shouldn't have said any of the stuff I said to him. I really screwed up." Belle said, more tears coming down from her eyes.

"And he shouldn't have said any of the stuff he said, either, Belle. He'll call, believe me. You two have too much love between you to let it go to shit because of a little fight. He sees that, I know he does. His pride is just hurt right now. He'll get over it. He's a guy." Mimi said, chuckling, hoping to maybe get a smile out of Belle. She did. Belle smiled and reached around and hugged Mimi.

"Meems, I'm so lucky to have you as a best friend. You're always there for me. Thank you so much." 

"No, you got it backward, girl. I'm lucky to have you. I haven't always been the best person I could be, but you've still stuck by me. I should be thanking you every day of my life." Mimi said.

"You do, Meems. By doing things like this." Belle said, hugging her best friend even more tightly. 

*Knock Knock Knock* 

"What the fu-? Who is it?" Brady yelled, getting up off the couch from his little 30 minute nap. 

"It's me, Shawn. Let me in Brady."

"Alright, gimme a second, hell." Brady said, dragging himself over to the door. Oh yeah, his headache was there alright. 

"What can I do for you, cuz?" Brady asked. Shawn stormed in, pushing past him, and going straight up the steps toward Belle's room. Brady just looked on.

"Yeah, Brady, I'd like to see Belle if that's alright. Sorry for waking you up and making your headache worse. Oh no, that's alright Shawn, it's just a little torture, nothing I can't deal with." Brady said, talking to himself while going back to his favorite place of the day: the couch. He laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. He looked at his watch before doing so. 2:15. He could sleep for a good hour or so before anybody else would be barging in the front door. He heard feet coming down the stairs but kept his eyes firmly shut. The person went into the kitchen again, once again turning on the radio, but lower this time. 

__

'Must be Mimi, atleast she had the decency to keep it low this time.' He thought. 

After 10 minutes of trying, he knew it was no good. He couldn't go back to sleep. He got up and headed to the kitchen. 

"In your life you seem to have it all, you seem to have control, but deep within your soul, you're losing it. You never took the time. Assume that you're to blame, You think that you're insane. Won't you spare me. I know the breakdown, everything is gonna shake now someday, I know the breakdown, tell me again am I awake now maybe. You can find the reason that no one else is living this waaaaaaaaaaaay yeah." Mimi sang along to "Breakdown" by Tantric while moving her hips to the beat while leaning up against the island reading a magazine. She was reading an article in Cosmopolitan on how to make your sex life more spicy. 

"Hell, isn't this what this whole magazine is about?" She said aloud to no one. 

"Talking to yourself, Meems?" Brady asked from his position in the doorway. She looked up and saw him leaning against the doorway with his right shoulder. She took a deep breath in. While she would never admit it outloud, the black tank top, worn jeans, bare feet, and bedhead was a very great look for him. 

__

'Quit thinking like that, Lockhart. It's Brady. The kid who put grasshoppers in the tent when Belle and you camped out. The little mean boy who put mud all in your hair and down the front of your best dress. You think he's hot? Think again.'

  
  
  


  



	2. Chapter 2

"Well, seeing as how you lack the intelligence to hold a conversation and Belle's too busy with her tongue down Shawn's throat…then yeah, I guess I'm talking to myself." Mimi said, looking back at her magazine.

"Funny, really, chuckle chuckle." Brady smirked then caught a glimpse of the cover of her magazine.

"And what is that your virgin eyes are reading?" He asked, walking over and attempting to rip it from her firm grasp.

"Chloe's diary. Really interesting stuff. 'Dear Diary, I don't know what to do. I thought Brady would be better in bed. He's..somewhat lacking in a certain area. I hate having to fake orgasms.'" 

"Really, because Kevin was saying the same thing to me the other day about your.." Brady smiled and put his mouth next to her left ear.

"Oral abilities." He finished, laughing softly. Mimi's eyes narrowed. She turned around about to let him have it when Belle walked in. She saw their faces and knew immediately what was up.

"Ugh, I can't leave you two alone for 5 minutes, I swear. Listen, Shawn and I are going over to the pub to hang out, you two wanna come?"

"Nah, you go on. I'm just gonna head home and lay around. Maybe rent some movies. Have fun, though." Mimi said, putting her hair up in a scrunchie that was around her wrist. 

"Alright, if you're sure. Brady, you wanna?" Belle asked her brother. He thought about it, but remembered about the tickets sitting in his room. He needed to find someone to buy them.

"You go on ahead. I might come by later or something. Got things I got to do." Belle shrugged.

"Alright, I'll see you two later, then. Come on, I'll walk you out." Belle said, motioning for Mimi to take her arm. Mimi looped her arm through hers and giggled.

"Bye dork." Mimi said to Brady as she walked out the door.

"Be nice you two." Brady heard Belle say before he could come up with his own comment.

"Bye Brady!" He heard Shawn yell and then the door shut. 

"Ha, now he finally talks to me." Brady mumbled as he walked out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom in the penthouse. He grabbed the tickets and walked back downstairs, preparing to call everyone he knew to see if they wanted them. 

After a few calls, he was down to Shawn and Belle. No one wanted them, or either they already had plans. He was about to call her cell phone when someone knocked on the door. He got up, phone in hand, and looked through the peephole. It was Mimi. He smiled and opened the door.

"Miss me already? I mean, I know I'm sexy and all, but I've got a girlfriend, so nothing can happen bet-" Brady was cut off by Mimi pushing past him into the penthouse. He shut the door and turned around. 

"I forgot my purse. I'll be right back." She said, going upstairs to Belle's room, he presumed. 

"Brady, thanks for the offer, but we can't. Shawn's got something special planned for tonight to make up for our fight. Why don't you call someone?" Belle said, after Brady telling her about Chloe leaving and asking her if she wanted the tickets. 

"Like who, Belle?" Brady asked sarcastically.

"I dunno, umm…hey, why can't you ask Mimi? She's got nothing to do, and she loves that play." Belle said, talking louder into the phone on account of a group of people coming into the pub. 

"Since when does Meems love Les Miserables?" 

"Since forever. Brady, if you'd pay a little more attention, you'd realize you two have a lot more in common than you think. If you tried, you could actually be friends." Belle said, looking at Shawn as a weird look came across his face. Brady scoffed.

"That's the funniest thing I've heard all day, Sis. Listen, I'll figure it out, you two go have fun. If you need me, call me. Love you."

"Love you, too, Brady. Bye." Belle said, cutting off her cell phone. She turned toward Shawn.

"Now what was with that weird look you shot me?" Shawn laughed.

"Nothing, just…Brady and Mimi friends?"

"What's wrong with that?" Belle asked.

"Belle, if *you'd* pay more attention, you'd realize there's too much…_tension_ between those two to be friends." He said, giving her a blatant look. A look she didn't get.

"How do you mean?" She asked.

Shawn sighed and chuckled. "Ugh, _tension_ Belle, think about it." He said, picking up his glass of Cherry Coke. She gave him a long glance before finally giving up.

"Just spell it out for the blonde here, Shawn." She said.

"*SEXUAL* tension, Belle, sexual tension." He said, before laughing at her astonished look. 

"And how did you come up with that conclusion?" 

"Next time they're together, just watch how they act. Their body language. You'll see it, I promise babe." Shawn said, hugging her to him. She started to say something, but he stopped her by giving her a deep kiss. All thoughts of Brady and Mimi left her mind in that moment.

At that same time, Brady was busy thinking about what Belle had said when Mimi came pounding down the stairs, carrying her purse. 

"Got it, bye." She said, heading toward the door. 

"Wait!" Brady said before he even thought about it. Mimi turned to face him.

"What?" She asked, looking confused. He looked at the tickets laying on the coffee table and then back at Mimi. 

"Do you like Les Miserables?" 


	3. Chapter 3

Mimi must be dreaming. Did Brady Black just ask her a question without a condescending tone behind it? 

"Why?" She asked carefully. She was afraid she'd wake up and the real Brady Black would rear his gorgeous head. 

__

'Gorgeous? God, Mimi. You miss Kevin so much that you're starting to call Brady gorgeous. Maybe you need to pay a little visit to Kevin at college…No! You won't do that. He wants to see other people? That's exactly what they're gonna do. She just hasn't found anyone that sparks her interest.'

"Because I'm taking a poll for Broadway, hell, Mimi, just answer the question." Brady said, wanting her to answer before he changed his mind. 

__

'There's the real Brady Black.' Mimi thought. 

"Okay, you don't even deserve an answer now, but yes, I do. Bye." She said, once again going for the door.

"Wait! Wait, Meems." Brady said, sighing. He didn't know why every time he was around her, he felt the need to be rude. He's just gotten so used to it over the years that it's more like a reflex now rather than a voluntary action. 

"No, Brady, you wait." Mimi said, turning around and coming face to face with him. 

"I've tried so hard to be nice to you, Brady. Not just for Belle's sake, but for my own. Believe it or not, but I do get tired of fighting with you. Hell, last week, I called to check on you when you were sick, and when I told Belle, she laughed and asked what was wrong with me. Two days ago, I saw a Matchbox 20 CD and I remembered that you were complaining a month ago that yours had gotten all scratched up. You know what I did? I BOUGHT it! I bought it for you because I'm *sick and tired* of not getting along with you. I thought maybe this would show you that I do have a nice bone in my body, and I wish you'd give me the opportunity to show it! Why do you think I brought Advil to you today? Because I just happened to have them in my pocket? No, because I felt bad for playing the music too loud and I wanted to help! I'm just tired, Brady." Mimi said, lowering her head down. She didn't know where the hell all that came from, but it was the truth, and it was a relief to have it all out. She looked back up and saw Brady with a shocked look on his face. He didn't offer to say anything in his defense, so she turned and left the penthouse. 

Brady saw her turn and leave, and yet he couldn't do or say anything to stop her. He deserved everything she said to him. He really had been an asshole to her all these years. It's not that he didn't like her, but no matter how hard he tried, something about her brought out the smart ass in him. He thought about running after her, but he knew he couldn't catch up to her now. Besides, what would he say? He was sorry, but would that be enough for her? In his eyes, it wasn't. 

Belle and Shawn were sitting on a blanket in the park, eating the dinner he had prepared for them, and watching the people go by. Shawn had apologized to her profusely, and she did the same. They both knew what they had together was special; too special to let go to waste over a stupid fight. Shawn's cell phone went off in his shirt pocket, and he checked the caller ID to see who was calling. It was Mimi's cell phone. 

"Hello?..Mimi, wait a second, hold on, what's wrong?..yeah, she's here…she must have her cell phone off sweetie, it's okay…what happened?…wait, stop crying, I can't understand you." Belle immediately sat up and grabbed the phone away from Shawn.

"Meems? Honey, you okay? What's wrong?" Belle asked as Shawn held her hand for comfort, knowing Belle was upset, hearing Mimi cry.

"Belle, oh god, I messed up. I really did." Mimi got out through her crying. She didn't know what to do. Why had she went off on Brady? She just wanted to make him understand, she didn't mean to say all that. She immediately called Belle's cell phone, but nobody picked up. She needed to talk to her. Before she even got through punching Shawn's number into her phone, the tears were coming hard. 

"Mimi, calm down. Just calm down and tell me what happened. I can't understand you when you're crying like that. Did someone hurt you?" Belle asked her, hoping nothing had happened to Mimi's family or anything. Mimi took a few breaths and calmed herself down. 

"Belle, I didn't mean to. I really didn't. I just went back to get to my purse." 

"You didn't mean to do what? What happened?" Belle asked.

"I don't know what happened. I went back to get my purse from your room…I came back downstairs and I went to leave but Brady stopped me. He asked me if I liked Les Miserables."

Belle smiled. So Brady had taken her advice and was going to ask her. But why would Mimi be upset over that? 

"When I asked him why, he got smart with me as usual, and had a smart ass comment. I turned to leave again and he stopped me. But I went off on him, Belle, something just snapped. I was tired of fighting with him. I've tried to be nice. I really have. I called to check on him, hell, I even bought him a present. But I just went off. I told him I was tired of fighting." Mimi explained, holding back the tears over reliving it. Belle sighed.

"Honey, Brady's just like that. He's so used to fighting with you, I don't think he even thinks twice about it. He just does it. He was born with his mother's wit and his father's lack of restraint." Belle said, laughing. She wanted to make Mimi see that it would be okay. Brady would get over it. He probably deserved it. 

"Why don't you go back over there and try to straighten it out? Maybe you two could come out of this as actual friends." Belle said, remembering Shawn's earlier comment about tension. She just couldn't see her best friend and her brother getting together. They could be friends. 

"No! I can't go back there. I don't want to see him. No, I can't go back." Mimi said, not wanting to see Brady's shocked face again. 

"I'm just gonna go home and go to sleep. It's been a long day." Mimi said, getting into her car. She had barely made it to the parking lot before she knew she needed to call Belle. 

"Okay, but call me later if you need to talk. I'll come over if you need me to." 

"Thanks, Belle, but I'll be okay. Have fun with Shawn. Tell him I'm sorry if I scared him or anything, sobbing my eyes out in his ear." Mimi said. Belle giggled.

"I don't think he cares. We're both here if you need us." Belle said, leaning back up against Shawn.

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later." Mimi said.

"Bye" Belle said and hit 'End' and handed the phone back to Shawn.

"Everything okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah, Mimi just blew up on Brady. About time, if you ask me. I've seen it, she has tried to be nice to him and he just acts like she didn't." Shawn laughed.

"Like I said there's too mu-"

"Don't even wanna hear it. Shut up and kiss me." Belle said, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him toward her. 

"Yes, dear." Shawn said before kissing her. 


	4. Chapter 4

Mimi slammed the front door of her house, yelled to whoever that she was home, and went straight up the stairs to her bedroom. Throwing her purse down on the floor, she collapsed onto her bed, once again tears making their way down her face. She really shouldn't have went off on Brady like that, but it was like she couldn't hold it in any longer. In that instant, all her emotions had bubbled to the top and forced their way out. 

__

'No, I'm not going to think about it anymore. I'll only feel worse and cry even more. No, I need to calm down.' Mimi thought to herself. She rolled herself off her bed onto the floor before crawling over to her stereo, sitting in the corner of the room. She went directly to Disc No. 3 and the familiar strings of Evanescence started. She figured God knew what a bad day she was having, because her favorite song "My Immortal" was the first song to start playing. She shuffled along the carpet back to her bed, sitting against it, legs bent up to her chest, head leaned back against the mattress. She felt her body begin to relax and felt the drowsiness start to set in, so she stretched out onto the floor, grabbing the throw off the end of the bed. She started to drift off, seeing Brady's face as she went. 

Belle came storming into the penthouse, her face red with anger. She saw her mother sitting on the couch, reading a book. 

"Where's Brady?" Belle asked, looking around for any sign of him.

"Well, this is a shot in the dark, but honey, I think he's at his apartment." Marlena said.

"Oh, sorry, he was here earlier, thought he'd still be here. I'll go over there then." Belle said, before heading back toward the door.   
"Wait, honey, what's going on? Is something happening that I should know about?" Marlena asked. Belle sighed and walked back over to the couch, sitting beside her mother.

"Nothing really. Just something happened between Brady and Mimi and I wanted to yell at him about it."

"What happened?"

"Well, mom, you know how they are around each other. Couldn't be nice if their lives depended on it. But mom…Mimi really was trying. She's been really trying these past few weeks. He's either not interested in being nice to her, or he's not picking up on it. So she finally went off on him tonight. She called me, bawling her eyes out. She's afraid she went too far." Belle said, putting her chin in one hand. 

"Do you think she did?" 

"I don't know, I wasn't here. I got Mimi's side of the story. It sounded pretty intense. Mimi doesn't cry, but she was when she called. Hard, too. Is it too much to ask to want my brother and my best friend to get along?" Belle said, sighing. 

"Well, sweetie, I've watched those two. Growing up, I could see even then that they were so alike. I didn't realize it would cause so many problems later on, though. I just always thought they'd end up dating instead." Marlena said, chuckling. Belle groaned.

"Ugh, what's up with everybody thinking they should date? Shawn said the same thing to me tonight. Said there's too much tension between them to be friends."

"Well, honey, have you considered that? I mean, have you ever really paid attention to how they act around each other?" Marlena asked, hand reaching over to stroke her baby girl's blonde hair. 

"Yeah, mom, they insult, degrade, and humiliate each other any chance they get. Doesn't take a genius to figure out they don't get that warm and fuzzy feeling from each other." Belle said, sighing, lowering her head into her mother's lap where she could continue to play with her hair. 

"No, really pay attention to it. Usually, when people try that hard to make the other one miserable, there's usually an ulterior motive for it, whether they know it or not." Marlena explained. 

"Well, mom, you're the psychiatrist, I'll take your word for it. Between you and Shawn both telling me to pay more attention to those two, it won't be long before I go nuts trying to see what you see. But anyway," Belle said, making her way off her mother's lap, "I'm gonna go over to the loft, talk to Brady, get his side of the story. May rip him a new one, never know." Marlena groaned.

"You kids and your way with words. Go on, honey. Have fun. Be back before midnight." Marlena said, waving to her daughter as she walked out the door. 

*Knock Knock Knock*

Brady groaned, the last thing he wanted was company. All he wanted was for someone to take these damn tickets off his hands, and the guilt off his heart. He gathered himself off his black leather sofa and opened the door. He groaned once again.

"Should've figured on you showing up. Don't bother, I already feel guilty enough, but go ahead, I know you're dying to ream me out." Brady said, turning his back on his sister, his silent invitation to come in, and plopping back onto the sofa. She followed, sitting on the arm of the sofa and stared at her brother. Her eyes showed none of the anger he was expecting. How could she when she saw how we taking this. 

"Okay, you're a little too quiet for my liking. Say something." Brady said, nervously. It wasn't any day Belle Black had nothing to say. 

"I'm sorry." She said, quietly. 

"You're sorry? For what? You didn't do anything." Brady said, examining her body language. Was she about to pounce on him, or kill him with silence? 

Belle got up off the arm, lowered herself onto the cushion beside Brady, and wrapped her arms around him. 

"I'm sorry it had to come to this. It hurts me to know that my best friend is hurting, and it hurts me to know that my brother, while being the reason for it, is also feeling just as much pain." She said, laying her head on her brother's shoulder. That's how they remained for the next few minutes. Brady was the first to break the silence. 

"Will she ever forgive me, Tink?" Brady asked, his head lowering. Belle sighed.

"I know Mimi and you haven't always seen eye to eye. Hell, thinking about it, I can't remember a time you *have* seen eye to eye. But that's not entirely your fault. Mimi's quite a handful herself. Sometimes she's too spunky for her own good. But she has a good heart, Brady. She was really trying to show that to you. I don't know what happened, but for some reason, she just got tired of being rude to you, and figured she'd try being your friend. I know you weren't expecting it, and you probably didn't even notice it until it was too late. Will she ever forgive you? That's up to her. But I'll let you in on a little secret…" Belle said, grinning, and leaning toward his ear.

"Her favorite flowers are crimson and white roses." She whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

****

~Hey readers, yeah, I realize I'm just *now* getting around to making a disclaimer. Sorry, my fault, oops. :) Anyway, yeah, I don't own 'em, never have, never will. Wish I owned Brady, but like that'll ever happen. So don't sue me, believe me, you wouldn't get much. :) Oh, and I realize now what an idiot I am, and made it seem Brady lived at the penthouse, but let's just make believe he still has a bedroom there, where he keeps some of his junk, and that just so happens where the tickets were, kay? Oh, and Rex and Cassie doesn't exist. Also, Philip's still away at Marine Base. Thanks. And I realize I made some sentence errors, and I'm too lazy to go change them. But anyway, thanks so much for reading, and if you feel the need to make my day, review. *wink wink* :) On with the story! 

Mimi stirred from her spot on the floor when she heard Connor's bedroom door slam. She rubbed her eyes, willing herself to wake up. She turned her head to where she could see the red numbers glow from her alarm clock. **_6:47. _**She got a nice long nap done, that's for sure. She sat up off the floor and reached for her cell phone on the bed. It was buried underneath her purse and the laundry her mother must've brought in while she was sleeping. If she knew Belle, she was expecting the display to tell her she had missed quite a few calls. She smiled as she saw just what she was expecting; **5 Missed Calls**. Browsing through her caller log, she saw that Belle had called twice, Shawn had called once, Philip had called once, and surprisingly, Marlena's cell phone had called once. She called up her voicemail and listened to the messages.

__

'Message #1-Hey Meems, it's Belle. Just calling to check on you, I know you said you'd go home, so you're probably asleep, but I just wanted to tell you I love you and call me when you get up. I mean it, otherwise I'll come over. Love you, Bye.' 

'Message #2- Mimi, it's Shawn. I wanted to call and check on you. I know Belle's probably been ringing the phone off the hook by now, so thought you might want to hear another voice. Meems, everything will be okay, I promise. It's not the first time Brady's been bitched out, and I know it won't be the last. If he doesn't straighten up, I'll bitch him out, how's that sound? Anyway, call me when you get the chance. Later'

'Message #3- Meems, it's Philip, just thought I'd call and see how you were. I'm getting a break pretty soon, so I'm coming back to Salem for a few weeks. Wanted you to know you better make some time for me somewhere in there, girl. I want to beat your ass at basketball again. Haha. But anyway, gotta go do some drills for the Sarg, I'll talk to ya later. Bye'

'Message #4-Meems, it's Belle again. Wake UP, sweetie. I'm driving your mom nuts calling your house every 30 minutes. Hehe. Love ya, call me.'

'Message #5- Hey honey, it's Marlena. Belle told me about what happened between Brady and you today. I'm sorry it happened, sweetie. Don't worry, Belle stormed out of here, ready to "rip him a new one" is how I believe she put it. I know Brady's hard to handle sometimes, there's been times I've wanted to smack that smug look off his face, too, dear. If you need anything, anything at all, call me. I believe I have a half a gallon of chocolate ice cream in the freezer, so we can tear Belle away from Shawn and have a girl's night if you want. But I'm here if you need me. Bye sweetie'

Mimi exited out of her voicemail and sighed. She really couldn't believe how great her friends could be sometimes. She was briefly considering the whole ice cream and girl's night thing when her mother came into her room with an armful of laundry. 

"Oh, good, you're up. Had quite a nap there, didn't you? Anyway, here's your laundry, and honey, PLEASE call Belle. She's called here about half a dozen times. Did something happen?" Her mother asked, sitting the clothes down in the floor and sitting beside her daughter on the bed. 

"No, everything's fine, mom. I'll call her right now." Mimi said, starting to dial Belle's number on her cell phone. Her mom kissed her on the head and left the room. Belle answered on the 2nd ring. 

"Mimi, thank God, I was just about to call your ass and make your mom wake you up. How are you?" Belle asked, slightly out of breath from talking so fast. 

"I'm okay, Belle. I got your voicemails and one from your mom, too. Please tell me you didn't go rip him a new one." Mimi said, laughing in spite of herself. Belle giggled.

"Well, I went to do just that, but in the end, I just ended up comforting him. He's really upset about this, too." Belle explained. 

"You mean Brady Black has feelings? Whuda thunk it?" 

"Mimi, come on, what happened to trying to be nice to him?"

"Well, that went out the window after today, wouldn't you agree?" Mimi said, laying back onto her pillows on the bed.

"Not necessarily. When have you ever given up on anything, Meems?" Belle laughed. 

"First time for everything, Belle. Hey, why aren't you with Shawn right now?" Mimi asked. 

"Who said I wasn't? Actually, I'm about to go meet up with him right now. I just got back from Brady's." Belle said, switching the stations in her car. 

"How is he?" Mimi said, after a long pause. 

"He's hurt, Meems. He knows he deserved it, but he's feeling some massive pain, too. He honestly didn't see the fact that you were trying to be nice to him. He sees it now, though. Maybe you'll come out of it being friends." Belle said, turning into the driveway of Bo and Hope Brady's house. 

"Mimi, listen, I'm at Shawn's house, so I'm gonna have to let you go. Have fun tonight, okay?" Belle said, not noticing her slip up.

"Have fun, what am I supposed to be doing?" Mimi asked, confused. Belle panicked. 

"Oh, ya know, in case you do decide to do something. Gotta go, love you, bye." Belle said, hanging up the phone before Mimi could answer.   
"Way to go, Belle, almost ruin the plan." She said, walking up to the door to be met by Shawn's awaiting arms. 

Mimi hung up the phone, confused by Belle's comment, but then again, Belle was a confusing woman. She started to hang up her laundry when her dad knocked on her door. 

"Mimi, sweetie? There's someone downstairs for you." He said, before walking back down the stairs. 

"Who is it?" Mimi asked when she got to the bottom of the stairs and saw her dad waiting for her.   
"Go and see." He said, before taking her arm and escorting her into the den. When they entered, he quietly shut the door behind them and went back to the kitchen where his wife was waiting. 

"Think they'll work it out?" Maureen asked her husband. 

"I hope so, did you see the poor guy? I can only imagine what Mimi's feeling." He said, before grabbing a piece of fruit out of the fruit bowl. 

"I'm just glad Belle told me what happened. When I went up to her room, she said everything was fine, and even though I knew it wasn't, I didn't pressure her to talk."

"Good, because she needs to talk to him, not us. She's almost 19 now, she'll work it out on her own." David said, kissing his wife on the cheek and walking into the living room.

The man had his back turned to her, but even so, when Mimi caught the first glance of him, looking at the pictures on the mantle place, she knew immediately who it was. 

"Brady?" Mimi asked timidly. 

"I forgot about this picture, Belle has one just like it in her room." He said, without turning around. Mimi walked up to where she was standing directly behind and looked over his shoulder. He was referring to the picture of where Belle, Shawn, Philip, Brady and her went to Disney World when they were smaller. Brady had just celebrated his 12th birthday, so he knew the others had to be 9 years old. Marlena and John had taken them during the weekend of Halloween, so in the picture they all had costumes on. Belle was Tinkerbelle, and of course Shawn was Peter Pan. Philip was a doctor, while Brady opted for Batman. Mimi shocked everyone when she decided to be SuperGirl. Brady made it clear he wanted to be the only superhero, but Mimi didn't care and did it anyway. The picture was all 5 of them surrounding Mickey Mouse. 

"It was fun back then, wasn't it?" Brady said, so low Mimi almost didn't hear him. 

"Yeah, it was." Mimi answered.

"What happened, Mimi?" Brady asked, lowering his head to where he was no longer looking at the picture. 

"We grew up, Brady. That's all." Mimi said, shrugging her shoulders. 

"Yeah, but growing up doesn't mean we had to grow apart. We may not have been the best of friends back then, but atleast we could play together and not kill each other." 

A pause passed between the two before Mimi spoke. 

"I don't know what to do, Brady. I don't know how to make this better." She admitted, staring at the back of his head. 

"I do." Brady said, before turning around to face her, a bouquet of the deepest red roses mixed in with the purest white roses he could find. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Are those for me?" Mimi asked, still shocked that Brady was in her house, especially with flowers in his hand. Brady laughed.

"Do you see another Mimi around here, of course they're for you." Brady said, smiling before extending his arm to place the flowers in her hands. She took them and examined them closely.

"Uh, wow, Brady, I don't know what to say.." Mimi began, still looking at the bouquet in her hand. 

"Don't say anything, just go upstairs and change. We've got dinner reservations." Mimi's head snapped up at that.

"Change? Dinner reservations? What are you talking about?" She asked, confused. 

"Well, not really dinner reservations, actually just a picnic, but still, go change."

"Brady, wait, I'm confused. You couldn't even stand to be in the same room with me 2 days ago. Then not even 5 hours ago, I bit your head off, and now you're here with my favorite flowers and wanting to take me out?" Mimi asked. Brady just nodded. 

"Wait, how did you even know what my favorite flowers were?" Mimi asked, then a light bulb turning on in her head.   
"So that's what Belle meant when she told me to have fun tonight. She's been scheming with you."

"I wouldn't exactly call it scheming, Mimi. More like…giving me a push in the right direction. Yes, she told me what your favorite flower was, and I also told her what we plan on doing tonight, but she didn't help me with that at all. This is all me." Brady said, grinning like he just won Prom King.

"Okay, who the hell are you and what have you done with the *real* Brady Black?" Mimi asked. 

"I'm serious, Mimi, it's really me, and we're also gonna be really late if you don't get up those stairs and change." Brady said, turning her around and pushing her out the door of the den. He followed her up the steps and into her room.   
"Okay, I'm not gonna tell you what we're going to do tonight, but as you can see," Brady said, gesturing to his ensemble of black dress pants, black leather belt, and a deep red button up shirt,

"It's not entirely formal, but jeans and a t-shirt aren't accepted, either. Get to lookin', Lockhart." He said, sitting down on her bed. Mimi silently walked over to her closet and began looking through her dress clothes. She took out a few dresses and laid them out on the bed. Mimi met Brady's eyes. 

"You wanna watch me change, too, Black?" Mimi asked.

"Well, if you're giving me the option, then su-"

"Out, Brady." Mimi said, walking over and opening her bedroom door for him. He exited without saying anything. After she shut the door, she sat down on her bed. 

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Mimi said to no one in particular. 

__

'Are you kidding, Meems? No matter if you want to go or not, he'll make you, even if he has to drag you kicking and screaming.' Mimi thought to herself. He really would do that, too. Or at the very least, call Belle and she'd do it for him. She figured she might as well get it over with, because there was no telling Brady Black no once he got something into his head. 

Mimi examined herself in the full-length mirror. While green definitely looked good on her, it just didn't look right tonight. She groaned and when back to the pile of clothes she had accumulated on the bed. She grabbed the next dress in the stack and held it up to her. It was one she bought 2 months ago on a whim. Hadn't even tried it on, just liked it and bought it. She wrestled herself out of the dress she had on, and slipped into the one she held in her hand. 

"Wow." Mimi said out loud. The dress was, amazingly, the color of Brady's shirt, and had black vines running from right side down to the left. It was strapless and the dress ended above her knees, but had a slit on the front left side of the dress, where the thorns ended, that reached midthigh. She even had to admit it looked great on her. She went over to her jewelry box and took out her black gemstone drop earrings and a matching bracelet. She then exited her bedroom, careful to make sure Brady wasn't there, and hustled into the bathroom to do her hair and apply her makeup. For some reason, she didn't want Brady to see her until she was done with everything. She curled her layers to where they flipped out, and she silently thanked God that she had redone her highlights last week. It only took her a few minutes to do her makeup, putting on foundation, powder, a gray eye shadow, kohl eyeliner, and waterproof mascara. She finished it off with red cherry lip gloss, and went back into her room to find the shoes she wanted to wear. They were black strappy heels that tied up her ankles. She saw them at Fredericks one day and knew she had to have them. She took one last look at herself in the mirror and she couldn't believe what she saw. 

"God, I match Brady completely." She said, thinking about his own clothing choices. She laughed, grabbed her purse, and left the room. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw no one. 

"Mom? Dad? Brady?" She called aloud. Brady came pounding in the hallway from the den. 

"I thought you'd never be finis-" He started, but never finished his sentence. Mimi started fidgeting uncomfortably. 

"Is something wrong? Should I go change?" She asked, about to head back up the stairs.   
"No, don't even think about it…God, Meems, you're gorgeous." He said, no longer having control of his words. Mimi smiled.

"Yeah, I notice we match. We'll have the town talking, Brady." Mimi said, giggling. Brady smiled.

"Let 'em talk. They'll be just jealous that you're with me and not them."

"I have it on good authority that for some people, it's the other way around."

"Well, I can't help it that I'm so devastatingly handsome." 

"Devastating? Yes. Handsome? No." Mimi replied, walking toward him. He laughed and offered her his arm. She hooked hers through his and smiled.

"Shall we go, then, Miss Lockhart?"

"You're the one that planned this, Mr. Black, you tell me." 

"Yep, we are." Brady said, before leading them toward the door.

"Bye Mom!" Mimi yelled. Her parents came out of the den. 

"Miriam, you look great. Have fun tonight." Her mother said.

"We will, thanks Mom. Bye Dad." Mimi said, letting Brady escort her out the door and to his awaiting Jeep. 

"So where are we going?" Mimi asked, while messing around with the radio. 

"That's for me to know and you to find out." He said, and laughing at her when she stuck out her tongue at him. 

"Oooh, great song!" She exclaimed, stopping on the station. 

**__**

YOU GIVE LOVE, YOU GET LOVE AND MORE THAN HEAVEN KNOWS  
YOU'RE GONNA SEE  
I'M GONNA RUN, I'M GONNA TRY  
I'M GONNA TAKE THIS LOVE  
RIGHT TO YA  
ALL MY HEART, ALL THE JOY  
OH BABY, BABY PLEASE

RUSH, RUSH  
HURRY, HURRY LOVER, COME TO ME  
RUSH, RUSH  
I WANNA SEE, I WANNA SEE YA  
GET FREE WITH ME  
RUSH, RUSH  
I CAN FEEL IT, I CAN FEEL YOU ALL THROUGH ME  
RUSH, RUSH  
OOH WHAT YOU DO TO ME

"Wait, wasn't this popular when I was, what, 13?" Brady asked, chuckling. Mimi gasped in offense. 

"Just because it was popular then doesn't mean we can't like it now!" Mimi said, while laughing along with him. 

"This coming from the girl that used to be in love in with drummer from Hanson." 

"Hey, Zac is very talented with a pair of drumsticks!"

"And the fact that you still remember his name is even more disturbing." Brady said, switching gears. Mimi just slapped him playfully on the arm and switched the station again. She decided on a station playing The Wallflowers and stopped.

"Finally, some decent music." Brady said, turning up the volume. They sat in silence until Brady pulled up to a secluded spot beside the lake and turned off the Jeep. He jumped out and reached over the backseat to get out the supplies. He motioned for Mimi to follow him onto something that turned out to be a pathway. When she saw that it led to a dock, she squeaked.   
"Ooh, a dock, how cool!" She said, running ahead of him and jumping onto the dock, making it rock back and forth. 

"This reminds me of the swinging bridge on the playground, remember that?" Mimi asked, continuing to make it rock. Brady sat the stuff down and reached for the blanket.

"How can I not? You pushed me off of it and I broke my pinkie." Mimi laughed.

"Hehe, yeah, I did, didn't I? Did I ever apologize for that?" She asked.

"Yeah, you got your mom to make me a chocolate cheesecake, and I forgave you." Brady said, gesturing for her to sit on the blanket. She sat with legs stretched out in front of her and leaning back onto her arms. 

"So, is this your apology to me?" Mimi asked.

"Part of it." Brady said, reaching over and taking out Tupperware filled with great smelling food.

"What's the other part?" She asked, grinning at him. Brady reached deep into the basket and brought out two tickets. 

"Since I know you won't leave me alone until you know the next part, I'll go ahead and show you." He said, handing her the tickets. Mimi looked at them, screamed in delight before launching herself at Brady. She wrapped her arms around him, knocking him onto his back and her landing right on top of him, with her arms wrapped around him still.

"Les Miserables?! I can't believe it!" She screeched into his ear before turning her head and kissing him on the cheek in her excitement. 

****

*Song: "Rush Rush" by Paula Abdul.

  


**__**

  



End file.
